# Whole Head Magnetoencephalography (MEG) System

> **NIH NIH S10** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2023 · $2,000,000

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
The instrument requested is a whole-cortex high-density magnetoencephalography (MEG) system that is needed
to continue performing NIH-funded brain research: the Megin Triux neo 306-channel whole-head MEG system
which has 100% helium recovery and is able to record up to 128 channels of EEG simultaneously. The requested
MEG unit will replace an 18-year-old 306-channel VectorView UCSD Core-facility MEG purchased in 2004 – the
oldest surviving such unit in the US, which is beyond end-of-life, deteriorating, wasteful of helium, and no longer
supported by the manufacturer Megin. The Triux neo is two generations beyond the current VectorView but uses
identical sensor configurations so that all software is fully compatible between models, and our prior/ongoing
NIH-funded experiments can be continued on the new system without interruption.
 The new instrument will be housed within the current high-performance 3-layer magnetically shielded
room and will have additional software and hardware features to permit recordings of cortical activity with
excellent signal-to-noise, with millisecond temporal resolution, and 1-mm spatial resolution in phantom studies.
The system includes behavioral stimulation equipment and computers to control perceptual, cognitive, and motor
experiments. The current old MEG system established in 2005 comprises the official UCSD MEG Core Facility,
and is the only MEG unit in Southern California, and one of only two MEG units in California (the other is at
UCSF). The proposed replacement Core MEG instrument will be located within UCSD's multi-departmental,
multi-institutional Qualcomm Institute (QI), and will be operated and administered through the same successful
infrastructure since its founding in 2005.
 The UCSD MEG Core Facility already is the hub of a broad research effort that serves many research
programs funded by NIH, VA, DOD, and NSF, as well as nongovernmental funding sources. Major Users of the
proposed MEG instrument come from the Radiology, Psychiatry, Neuroscience, and Cognitive Science
Departments at UCSD, as well as San Diego State University, UC Davis, UC Irvine; and is available to
researchers from other institutions. MEG directly and instantaneously reflects synaptic current flows. It thus has
excellent temporal resolution and complements the good spatial resolution provided by fMRI. Researchers using
the MEG can also access fMRI at the nearby UCSD Center for Functional MRI (CFMRI), which provides a wide
range of relevant collaborative expertise, including advanced techniques for localizing distributed cortical sources
by integrating MEG and EEG with structural and functional MRI.
 The featured NIH-supported projects that will immediately benefit from the MEG system include ongoing
MEG studies of nicotine and cannabis on young-adult brain function; effects of cannabis and cumulative
adversity on brains of young-adults with HIV; pediatric traumatic brain injury; and studying memory in epilepsy
patients.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10632483
- **Project number:** 1S10OD034302-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** ROLAND Robert LEE
- **Activity code:** S10 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $2,000,000
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-07-15 → 2024-07-14

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10632483

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10632483, Whole Head Magnetoencephalography (MEG) System (1S10OD034302-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10632483. Licensed CC0.

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